


Tall Tourists in Singapore

by natigail



Series: Phan Reality One Shots [5]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: 2017!Phan, Australia, Dan and Phil Go Outside, Fluff, Gen, Holidays, M/M, Singapore, Tourism, Travel, i wrote this fic by stringing together all the holiday photos the boys posted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-12-09 20:52:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11676870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natigail/pseuds/natigail
Summary: Dan and Phil got to travel a lot but it wasn’t often that they got to have a proper holiday time without some sort of work agenda. They just want walk around and be cliché tourists like everyone else. When they are invited to a short convention in Australia, stopping in Singapore proves as the perfect opportunity.Throughout the story are attached real instagrams (+ one tweeted photo) by Dan and Phil.





	Tall Tourists in Singapore

 

**Tall Tourists in Singapore**

_With a two stop convention in Australia as their excuse_

Dan and Phil had been fortunate enough to travel to a lot of places around the world. They recognised their place of privilege but most of their trips were work-related somehow. It wasn’t that they exactly minded because they’d gotten better at actually stopping to smell the flowers so to speak. However, they longed for more proper holiday time.

When travelling for conventions or TATINOF, they’d made sure to see a lot of landmarks nearby. It would be such a waste of an opportunity not to get out and see the wonderful unique things, just within reach of their fingertips.

However, there was something about truly being on holiday and not having to worry about being ready for a panel or meet and greets or doing a stage show. It was fine to travel somewhere and then take a holiday, as often happened to be the case post-Playlist where Phil’s whole family headed to Florida.

Their holiday to Japan had been a spur of the moment decision where Phil had just booked the tickets to allow them to take a step back from book writing and tour preparations. It had been such a wonderful experience and after that both Dan and Phil had craved that need to explore places and just be on holiday.

When Amplify reached out and invited the pair of them to come to a two-day convention with a stop in Sydney and one in Melbourne, they’d been swift to accept. Partly because they loved and missed Australia but mostly because it was the perfect opportunity for a stopover in a place, they’d wanted to see for a while. Singapore.

They wanted to be silly and play ultimate tourists. They wanted to run around in shorts while trying to navigate massive awkwardly large maps. They wanted to get lost and then having to bicker and trying to find the places they planned to visit. They wanted to take typical and almost obligatory photos at tourist attractions while sporting ridiculous poses. They wanted to just enjoy themselves and each other’s company.

They’d have a few days before flying to Sydney and then they’d have a few days after flying back Melbourne, which was a good thing because both of them wanted to utilise their time but doing it without too much stressing around.

Singapore would just be for them and they were both so excited at the prospect of that.

_*_*_*_

**1 Altitude**

Obviously, a good place to start is somewhere where you can see practically the entire city below you. Dan and Phil are seasoned long-haul flyers by now but that doesn’t mean that it gets easier.

The humidify is already messing with Dan’s already curly hair, making it go full hobbit hair. If he hadn’t embraced the curls by now, the Singaporean air would have forced him to whether he wanted to or not. Dan smiles at that because his hair had been an insecurity of his for such a long time and he’d always get on edge when he’d go somewhere he knew that his straighter would lose to the humidity.

They have also broken out their shorts and neither Dan nor Phil is very used to exposing the very pale skin on their legs. Phil is worried he might burn his pale skin and huffs at Dan, who mostly just gets tanner rather than actually burns.

They eventually make it all the way to the top of the giant building and onto the viewing platform. Neither boys say it out loud but a surge of excitement goes through them. There’s something about being high up and looking out over a city. It’s something special between them.

Maybe there’s a little discreet recreation of what happened on Manchester Eye where they went the day that they first met.

While the two of them are usually constantly chatting and exchanging banter back and forth, they have comfortable silences as well. They watch over the city that will serve as theirs to explore lays in front of them.

Of course, they both reach for their photos to take photos. The decision to create the DAPGO book was a good and natural one because they always document so many things with their phones. They are millennials after all.  

Only a fraction of what they photograph used to go anywhere. A lot of their favourite snaps, which wouldn’t serve well on the Internet, get compiled into a special folder just for them. They have to be weary of what they post and they used to be even more so.

“Let’s take a photo for Instagram,” Dan says casually while glancing over at Phil, who’s attempting and – likely failing – at taking a panorama of the skyline.

“It’s all wobbly,” Phil complains and frowns when he looks down at his screen but then mirth enters his eyes and he flips the screen over to show Dan. Upon closer inspection, Dan can see a twisted figure in one corner, which vaguely resembles his body. He looks like a mess.

“Phiiill!” Dan whines and reaches out to grab the phone but Phil quickly shoves it back into his pocket.

“Why are you complaining, Dan? It’s just showing your true self. Now let’s pose for that Instagram,” Phil says and smiles at him adorably, which basically always make Dan cave.

Dan takes a quick glance around their fellow tourists and sees how many are posing in pairs or groups while trying to get something interesting in the background. The corner of Dan’s mouth tugs up at the sides because this is such an utterly domestic and cliché spot to take a selfie and yet he can’t bring himself to care.

Phil drags him towards the railing and they pose. They’ve done this pose so many times that it’s almost like a second nature by now. They’ve fallen into habits over the years and Dan raises his arm with rehearsed practice as he snaps a few photos.

They don’t care to look at the photos right now but instead redirect their eyes to the impressive view in front of them.

 

 

  


 

“Wait, did you ask specifically for that photo to be for Instagram?” Phil suddenly questions and close the distance between them while both sets of eyes stays tainted at the skyline.

“Yeah, I want to try and get over my fear of posting photos on there because they aren’t perfect or don’t fit into a theme or whatever. We aren’t compiling photos for DAPGO this time around but I still want to have something to look back on, you know?”

Phil gives him a knowing glance. He has intimate knowledge of Dan’s struggle against this. It’s the same thing with videos for Dan’s channel. He used to be more scared to tweet things as well but over the past year, he’s gotten better at caring less.

Grinning to himself, Phil shoots a look at Dan who doesn’t notice him looking as he’s busy taking in the scenery.

“I think we should take loads of photos and actually post them. I’m sure people will love to keep up with us while we’re out travelling,” Phil says.

Dan tenses, almost unnoticeable but of course, Phil notices. He always does but he holds his tongue until Dan speaks on his own accord.

“You wouldn’t mind? This holiday is supposed to be just for us,” Dan muses and Phil can see the internal struggle reflected in his eyes.

“Just because social media is kind of our job, doesn’t mean that we can’t use it during our holiday. Besides, I want to let people know that we’re out here doing nerdy stuff like visiting landmarks and museums. Not telling them would be hiding it, right?”

“Even with all the implications and assumptions it might bring?” Dan asks and he looks at Phil with hopeful eyes.

He’s done with caring about the shipping. It’s been so long and Dan just wants to live his life. Gradually the two of them has stripped off the guardedness and left in all the little endearing parts, letting everybody think what they will.

Dan wants to be a cliché tourist with Phil more than anything. Phil’s fond glance tells Dan that he wants the same.

“Let them think what they want, Dan,” Phil says and reaches for his arm as someone suddenly speaks up loudly and rather rudely.

“Tall tourists! Out the way!”

The boys glance at each other in shock and then manage to scramble to the side, Phil apologising profusely even though he didn’t do anything wrong. It’s only when they’re out of ear shot that the grins on their faces morph into chuckles.

These two tall tourists feel ready to take on Singapore.

_*_*_*_

**Merlion Park**

The Merlion sculpture is for a lack of a better word odd. Dan and Phil had done some research before leaving home to check out which places they should visit and all the guides had recommended the Merlion Park.

It is crowded in tourists as to be expected but Dan and Phil blends right in with a lot of the other pale Westerners. They like the anonymity of it, to be quite honest. They’d still have the occasional viewer come up to them and ask for a photo or something like that but they don’t mind as long as it’s a quick and quiet affair.

They knew when people realised that they were out and about being tourists in Singapore someone might recognise them. One girl accidently runs into Phil, consequently almost falling over and then subsequently going very quiet and wide-eyed with recognition.

Being outside make awkward encounters inevitable and the boys can’t decide if they prefer that it happened with complete strangers or viewers. On one hand, the strangers would likely fairly soon forget about the awkward encounter while viewers would likely remember it but probably also find it to be expected and hopefully endearing.

That had essentially been the basis of TATINOF where none of the performance might have been perfect from an objective view, but every little mess-up was so characteristically Dan and Phil than no one minded and most actually loved it.

These endearing mess-ups seem to follow them everywhere.

Both Dan and Phil watch with matching grins as people line up to try and take a photo where it looked like they were drinking the water from the fountain – a classic optical illusion trick.

It reminds Dan of how people would act with the Leaning Tower in Pisa or the Eifel tower. He is tempted to back off and try and take sneaky photo of the people posing from another angle to show just how ridiculous they look.

He doesn’t have to wait long for his wish to become true though. But it was not in the way he expected.

Dan just shoots Phil a glance and hands him his phone when a spot in front of the water frees up. Phil shakes his head but his eyes hold onto their usual fondness.

“This is the perfect opportunity to post a classic, touristy photo, Phil,” Dan says and addresses Phil’s unvoiced thoughts. “Just help me make sure it lines up, yeah?”

It takes all of a minute to get a shot of Dan where it looks like the water is going directly into his mouth. Phil takes an extra look at the photo. He doesn’t mind the cliché as much as Dan does, so obviously he wants a photo as well.

 

 

  


Which leads them to mess-up upon mess-up due to Phil’s lack of spatial awareness.

Phil actually pouts when Dan tries to correct him for the third time. Phil even throws in the puppy eyes to quell Dan’s growing frustration with the whole thing.

People are looking at them, the two tall tourists unable to accomplish the classic photo and taking up the space in front of the sculpture.

“No, Phil! Forward. You need to move forward… No, a bit back. Right. Head up. Not that much up!” Dan tries to instruct Phil but Phil just isn’t getting it. Dan even tries to compensate by actually moving himself while having Phil stand still.

However, that just results in almost tripping over a small child, which nearly sends Dan into a silent panic.

  


Phil senses his distress and gives up on having the photo. It really isn’t that big of a deal and they’re taking up a lot of space. Dan is getting twitchy and Phil is getting frustrated and this just a recipe for disaster.

Moving from his pose, Phil goes to Dan’s side, apologising on his behalf over Dan’s baffled and apologetic mumbles. Dragging him by the arm, Phil removes Dan from the crowded area.

“How could we work so poorly together?” Dan questions with a shake of his head. The heat is getting to him or something.

“Well, either you’re bad at giving directions,” Phil says and waits until Dan glares at him, “or I’m bad at taking instructions. Who knows? It doesn’t matter.”

Phil snatches the phone from Dan and sees the last attempt. It’s close but still far off. Phil breaks into a wide smile because oddly, this is better than the perfectly structured photo. Phil looks carefree and he can still hear all Dan’s earnest attempt to correct him ringing in his ears and making their way into his permanent memory.

This photo might not be Instagram worthy but it belongs in their shared folder of odd photos. They share so many of them now, many more than they used to, but obviously a few are still kept to themselves. Phil ponders. Maybe, he’ll tweet out this photo through.

“Yours looks good,” Phil comments. “Guess, that shows who is the better photographer,” Phil teases and Dan matches Phil’s pout from earlier before letting a huff of annoyed air escape him.

Teasing each other is a fundamental part of their relationship and none of them truly mind, even if they like to kick up a fuss about it.

“I’m still not sure what I find to be so off about the stature,” Dan comments and casts a look back at the Merlion.

“Well, it’s practically just a fish tail and a lion head. Where’s the torso? Where’s the paws? Where’s the rawr?” Phil asks and when he says the last part, he nudges Dan elbow and shoots him that look.

The look that lets Dan know that Phil is proud of his joke or pun and wants Dan to acknowledge it.  

Dan rolls his eyes a little more dramatically than he needs to. Some fetus things just make him cringe… okay most fetus things makes him cringe. But whenever Phil brings up a little piece of their shared history so endearingly, then he just can’t help but smile.

He won’t ever be okay with Phil playing Hello Internet to mess with him though. Still now he allows his body to inch closer to Phil’s while giving him a stern stare that quickly melted into an overbearing gaze.

_*_*_*_

**S.E.A. Aquarium, Singapore**

The aquarium is absolutely gorgeous and they are both happy that they decided to keep it on their to “to see” list.

It had been up for debate whether it was something to prioritise and if it would be unique to Singapore but they have somewhat of a tradition together with going to zoos. Both of them are obviously big fans of animals, so it did seem like a natural progression.

Really it’s just one of the many things they bond over together.

Dan knows immediately as they make it into the main part and he spots the giant fish tank full of all sorts of species. Phil is equally baffled at the size and variation of maritime animals and if he almost skips towards the glass, Dan doesn’t mention it. He doesn’t even complain too much when Phil in a rush hands off their shared backpack. Dan just pulls his arms through the snaps and lets it settle on his back. Phil carried it on the way here, so it’s only fair.

“Wait, Dan there’s tunnels!” Phil exclaims, latching onto Dan’s arm and pulling him along as he often does when he’s excited. Phil is a very physical person and he often takes to just punch Dan’s shoulder whenever he gets too excited.

It grounds him in a way and expresses what he doesn’t always can with his words.

Dan just smiles and snorts fondly as they make their way into the water tunnels and they crane their necks back to look at the fish and sharks swimming above them.

It feels almost like they’re in the water with them, only they are safe and dry, which is very much how they prefer it. Dan gets lost just staring and he looks so peaceful and beautiful, so obviously Phil pulls out his camera. Dan doesn’t even notice that Phil snaps a photo of him. It’s a stroke of luck that one of the bigger sharks swims by in that moment and Phil doesn’t even wait a second before showing the photo to Dan, who nods approvingly.

“The lighting is so blue and aesthetic in here,” Dan comments and then embarks on what Phil likes to call his photographer hazy. Dan is moving around with his phone ready and capturing boomerang after boomerang. Dan gets completely into the zone and doesn’t pay much attention to the other tourists he navigate amongst.

To be fair, a lot of them are tied to their phones talking photos and filming as well. Phil indulges in the photography as well and gets some rather good shorts if he does say so himself. He’s particularly proud of one boomerang where he’s sucking in his cheeks, like he’s seen in make-up videos before girls put on contour, and imitate being a fish. He doesn’t watch make-up videos often but he has indulged in some of his friend Zoe’s sometimes because she’s always just chatting and he finds her videos calming.

“See, I’m a fish,” Phil exclaims and runs up to Dan interrupting what must be the fifteenth boomerang he’s captured as they’ve moved around the aquarium.

“This is so us, Phil. I’m here capturing fish movement with my boomerangs and you’re impersonating a fish in yours,” Dan says with a chuckle. He’s in a great mood, because Singapore has been wonderful and calming lately and he loves getting just absorbed by a project – even if it is shooting boomerangs in an aquarium.

“Let’s take a photo of us,” Phil insists. And Dan obliges without any protest at all.

They do a few different poses but all just look a bit funny because their complexion appears literally blue.

 

“Why do you look so blue, Dan?” Phil jokes as he looks over the photos and looks up to poke his elbow into Dan’s ribs. “Part of the I’m dead inside branding?”

Dan snorts and rolls his eyes.

“You’re blue too, dork,” he counters after a moment too long of contemplation. Phil grins back with that tongue slightly pokes out smile that Dan adore as much as Phil adore Dan’s deep dimple.

They’ve made their way back towards the main tank and it’s almost time to leave. They’ve been here for hours already, pausing to take photos and boomerang and to read the many plaque in front of the tanks. They were always suckers for some animal trivia.

A whole bunch of tourists are majorly posing against the big tank and it looks like they’re faking being deep in thought. And as if staring into some fish filled water would give them the perspective they needed and solve all their problems.

As someone who actually struggled with getting caught up in introspective thoughts, Dan can’t help but find it endearing.

“Go on,” Phil says and nods towards the tank. Dan turns to face Phil with a question obvious on his lips.

Phil just rolls his eyes. He might have had a psychic grandmother and sometimes be oddly intuitive but that’s not what made him able to apparently read Dan’s mind. It’s just that they’ve been together for so long.

“You want another cliché photo, Dan,” Phil says. “Go be a poser and I’ll take a photo of you and then you can post it with one of those I’m-doing-this-ironically captions.”

Dan opens his mouth to protest but Phil just ushers him on. Dan glares at Phil and Phil’s quick with snapping a photo of glaring Dan who in a rush manages to flip him off as well. That one is definitely going into their private folder.

Dan poses and it looks just as pretentious as they both now it would. Dan doesn’t say thank you to Phil but he does knock their shoulders together and give him a knowing glance. The aquarium feels like a little safe haven and air-conditioned as opposed to the humidity outside. With the lack of windows, time doesn’t quite feel real.

They both have more photos and boomerangs than they know what to do with but they agree that they can spam Instagram a bit. Bless the new feature that allows more photos in one post.

_*_*_*_

**Wooloomooloo, Singapore**

Another thing that’s important during holidays is where you go out to eat. Dan and Phil have been playing that more by ear and just chosen whatever they stumbled across.

Food is very important to both of them though. Dan wants to expand his taste experience a bit and try local recipes where as Phil feels more comfortable ordering things close to what he’s used to.

He does cave sometimes, when Dan gives him the whole “you’re in a different culture, you should experience the cuisine” spiel. But Dan isn’t as adventurous as he’d like to be half of the time, where Phil takes a lot of delight in reminding him of his culture and food speeches.

None of them are big drinkers though and most of the time they go for non-alcoholic beverages. Getting drunk off your ass seems to belong to their younger versions and university and early YouTube days. Sometimes, they will still drink at parties but it’s always a bit dangerous.

Getting drunk removes inhibitions and they have to be cautious of what might be captured in the background of videos and photos, especially because a lot of their friends have a large following online too.

However, they do both love a good cocktail. Both of them were absolutely ecstatic for the time where they got to taste so many cocktails as they were making their own for their TATINOF afterparty. Phil still holds to the belief that “the Phil” was the best cocktail he’d ever had and he wishes that he could just go up and order it in a random bar. Dan’s was partly chosen because of its aesthetically fitting appearance but he did really love it.

At a small restaurant in Wooloomooloo, which is honestly a name both of them laugh too much over, they both decide to forego the soft drinks and actually go for cocktails. It has nothing to do with the fact that they’re served in huge coconut glasses obviously.

Drinks are always presented so nicely and Phil gushes over his cocktail before the waiter has even put it down on the table.

“Take a photo of me drinking it,” Phil asks Dan, who takes Phil’s phone from his outstretched hand.

Phil is holding the cocktail with both hands and because of its size; Phil hands don’t actually look unnaturally large, which is a problem for both him and Dan sometimes. They are both definitely too large to be so clumsy.

Dan frames Phil into the photo and only manages to take one before he loses it. The photo looks ridiculous because of the straws and Dan just disperse into a bunch of giggles.

“What?” Phil asks, confused and Dan just hands over Phil’s phone while Dan is still struggling not to double over from the laughter. When Phil sees the photo he starts laughing as well.

Other people in the restaurant are probably looking their way but they’ll quickly avert their eyes. After all, Dan and Phil are just two silly British tourists giggling over a cocktail.

_*_*_*_

**Cool For The Summer Event, Australia**

Leaving Singapore and flying to Australia is harder than they both expected. They’ve been having a wonderful, no responsibilities holiday and now it’s time to get back to work, even if it’s only for two days and one travel day.

And they’re going to be doing something they both love. Meeting their viewers is always such a pleasant experience if it’s well-organised events. It’s wonderful to put faces to numbers and usernames and often hearing stories from people who’ve watched them for ages, absolutely melts their hearts.

Australian viewers also always seem to be so polite and it’s they’ve both high off the holiday bliss as they get ready for their first meet up. Dan takes too long getting ready and delights in wearing his new ripped jeans. He’s feeling confident in his outfit so he can’t resist snapping a quick selfie beforehand.

Phil can’t help but smile as he sees the photo Dan has posted. They’re chilling before their meet and greet and Phil reach over to Dan, who is sitting next to him, to pull on one of the strings stretching over his knees.

“Did you almost put your feet through the holes?” Phil asks with glee on his face, clearly remembering how Dan almost destroyed a previous pair of ripped jeans like that.

“No,” Dan protests and huffs, only to soften a second latter and admit that he did.

Phil shakes his head but doesn’t comment further. At the meet and greet, Phil notice several people trying to hide that they are looking at Dan’s nails. Right, it had been when they were last in Australia that he’d painted them black, wasn’t it?

A few viewers even go as far as handing Dan more nail polish, which he accepts but he doesn’t promise anything.

It’s the morning after as they are in their hotel room getting ready to fly to Melbourne that Phil is surprised to see Dan pulling out a nail polish.

“You’re actually going to paint your nails?” Phil can’t help but ask. He loves that Dan isn’t so afraid to challenge gender norms anymore. He sort of wish he could do that too but he doesn’t feel like wearing nail polish. It’s more likely he’d get it everywhere and clip it immediately.

“Yeah, I’m wearing the bedazzled gatorland hat and the sexual fantasies jumper, so I just think that might go with a bit of glitter on my nails, you know?”

Phil hasn’t shared Dan’s interest in fashion, nor does he understand how Dan can spend as much money as he does on clothing, but he can’t deny that sometimes Dan is great at putting together outfits.

Dan does his right hand and then curses under his breath immediately as he moves on to the next one.

“Problem?”

“How do people do this with their non-dominant hand?” Dan grumbles and tried to correct the coat that he blotched.

“Let me help,” Phil offers.

Dan’s head snaps up. Phil has absolutely no coordination for fidgety things. Dan could probably do a better job himself, even with his right hand. But Phil is looking at him so earnestly and Dan agrees despite his apprehension.

Phil goes to work on his nails, holding Dan’s hand delicately while he sports a concentration frown.

“They’ll freak out when they notice,” Phil comments. “I still get tweets from when you had black nails at that Australian meet up last year. Me! They’re telling me to get you to wear nail polish again.”

“I still have it in my notifications all the time too. It’s a bit odd but a nice reminder that what we do can have an impact he didn’t necessarily consider, isn’t it?”

“Yeah… okay, I’m done,” Phil says and lets go of Dan’s hand.

Dan inspects Phil’s work and surprisingly, it’s not as bad as he expected.

“Not bad for a klutz,” Dan jokes, causing Phil to shove him. “Phil! It’s still wet, you’ll mess it up!”

Phil doesn’t seem to care and takes it as a further incentive to chug a pillow after Dan, who tried to shield his still drying nail polish.

Dan takes a selfie on the plane later, pulling the hand Phil did up to softly caress his cheek, and predictably everybody freaks out. Phil only just resists commenting that he’s proud of how smoothly he did the nail polish.

 

_*_*_*_

**Gardens by the Bay, Singapore**

After finishing up in Melbourne, they head straight back to Singapore and it proves the perfect way to relax and gather their strength after a very busy and people filled days.

They both love conventions but they are so emotionally draining and Gardens by the Bay turn out to be the perfect place to do that. The park is absolutely huge, aesthetically pleasing and nature just has a calming effect on both of them.

It might be because they live in the centre of London and don’t actually go outside when they don’t have to. Dan argues that Phil brings enough houseplants into their home that they don’t actually have to go outside to look at plants.

None of them comment on Phil’s plants die a lot of the time.

It doesn’t even seem tiring for them to just walk around and look at pretty things. It’s the kind of exercise they can both get behind. They run into a couple of viewers but everyone is nice and polite and only takes up a short moment of their time.

It’s so wonderful that people continue to be respectful and let them have their holidays in relative peace. Most of the times, they’re just another two faces in the crowd, two people on a holiday, who are taking silly photos half the time.

As their followings grew online, they worried if there might come a time where they couldn’t just go outside and be perfectly normal but it’s never quite come to that, even if they have to take different precautions sometimes for safety reasons. Such as when they had to tell people that they couldn’t take photos after they finished with their BBC radio show like they could in the beginning.

Phil is looking particularly good today and Dan can’t help himself for stopping Phil to take a nice photo. Phil is wearing a T-shirt adorned in butterflies that he just bought recently and it looks too good not to take advantage of.

“Just stand here and look up and with the right angle it might look like it’s a real butterfly on you,” Dan instructs.

“What? You want to trick people into believing that there’s butterflies here?” Phil questions.

“Just shut up and look pretty, Lester. You might get a new profile photo out of this, if you’re lucky,” Dan says as a response and that shuts Phil up immediately.

They always take photos of each other and half the time it’s not themselves requesting a photo.

“See?” Dan says and shows Phil a few of the photos. “Totally looks like a real butterfly.”

“I might actually make it my profile picture. Thanks, mate.”

“Don’t mention it,” Dan says and only cringes a bit over the nickname. Phil is using it ironically, but still.

Later they’re walking through a huge lion door and Phil acts like a little kid. He’s always loved lions and he didn’t mind that they became a part of his brand when he first started YouTube, even if he’d moved away from it slightly.

Phil tries his best to look intimidating… or as inseminating as a pale guy with a fringe wearing a butterfly shirt and short can be. Which turns out not to be very, if one were to believe Dan’s stupid grin as he takes the photo.

 

“You better not title that photo rawr or I’m officially unfollowing you on Instagram,” Dan issues what they both know is an empty threat. As if he’d ever unfollow Phil on any platform.

_*_*_*_

**ArtScience Museum, Singapore**

With their holiday slowly coming to an end, Dan and Phil had saved a very specific location to last.

Dan had been the one to find it and instantly, he’d known that he and Phil needed to stop by there. It would be packed full of beautiful visual art installations and he couldn’t think of a better place to see.

Phil is just as excited as Dan to visit the museum, though it might have been partly due to the fact that Dan has been blabbering about it on the whole way there.

“I can’t believe we’re leaving so soon,” Phil says in a hushed voice, as they get into the queue to buy tickets.

Being tourists in Singapore has seemed like somewhat of an escape and a walk down memory lane at the same time. Phil thinks back to his first holiday with Dan to Jamaica in 2010. He thinks about their trip to Japan two years ago. He thinks about the numerous times Dan has tagged along on Lester family holidays, fitting in like a missing puzzle piece and allowing Phil to spend time with his favourite people at the same time.

“It’s been good, right?” Dan asks, and though he’s a tiny bit taller than Phil, his voice has that tiny bit of insecurity that only rarely emerges and it makes him seem smaller somehow.

“The best,” Phil is quick to agree.

They get their tickets and soon they’re just as lost and bewildered like the rest of the crowd. A lot of the rooms have different lighting working, almost always dimmed in some way and if hands slip together, then no one would notice.

The boys reach a room with glittery curtains that glimmer brighter than should be possible. Other tourists are lining up to take their photos and Dan and Phil get into the informal queue like the polite Brits they are.

They could ask someone to take photos for them but neither feels up to making small talk with stranger to make that happen. They know each other’s angles best anyway and they are shameless with their posing. The lights are kind of blinding when you stand and face them directly but they are willing to face that to get some cool shots of their silhouettes.

 

 

“Do you want a photo together with your boyfriend, dear?” an elderly American voice startles Phil as he’s done taking a few photos of Dan.

  


“No, thanks, mam!” Phil says in a panic and if the lighting weren’t dim then they’d probably notice that Phil’s cheek start to heat up. Years of being well-known from the Internet and protective of his private life has made him skittish, even if Dan has it worse.

“Okay, honey,” the woman says but even in the low lighting, the smile that twinkles in her eye is visible. She reaches out for another old woman behind her, interlocking their fingers and continuing to walk through the museum.

“Made a friend?” Dan asks, as he approaches only after the ladies have left. It’s just like him to leave Phil to deal with any potentially awkward social situation, though to be fair having two awkward nerds stumbling over their words might be worse than one.

“Just a couple of women who asked if we wanted a photo together,” Phil says dismissively. “They looked like they were a couple and thought we were one too.”

Dan’s eyebrows rise in amusement but there’s none of the panic that would have been there just a couple of years ago. Instead now, he gets a goofy look on his face before shaking it off and dragging Phil to the next room.

Contrary to their profession, their phones actually stay in their pockets most of the time. They see other tourists experiencing the beautiful art through a screen and that’s not how they want to see it. Besides photos are great to capture a memory but it’s also important to be present in the moment.

However, when they make it to a wave inspired art installation, Phil instantly pulls out his phone and orders Dan to pose.

“Why?” Dan asks suspiciously but gets in shot anyway.

“You’ve embraced wavy Dan, right? Maybe I can make it look like the curls on your head match the flow of a wave.”

Dan breaks into a grin and then snorts with fondness before obliging Phil and getting his serious photo face on.

  


“You’ll thank me for that later,” Phil says afterwards and stuffs his phone back into his pocket. “You look cool. You’re lucky to have a personal photographer with you,” Phil says and nudges Dan’s shoulder playfully.

Phil is doing that teasing grin where his tongue pokes out slightly and Dan loses it like he always does. He doesn’t even try to supress the giggle as he gives Phil a playfully shove back.

“Then I’m your personal photographer too and I bet I’ve taken more photos of you than you have of me,” Dan argues as they walk towards the exit.

“It’s a good thing we have each other, huh?” Phil asks.

“I couldn’t live without it,” Dan says maybe a bit more dramatically than needed but Phil just smiles back at him brightly, so being dramatic and sappy is definitely all worth it.

_*_*_*_

On the plane ride home, Phil falls asleep on Dan’s shoulder. Was it literally anyone else in the entire world, Dan would shove them off. But Phil has a special privilege when it comes to Dan.

It’s a long flight home but they both feel lifted in spirits. They ran into viewers occasionally but it was always in small groups and brief and it was wonderful to see how respectful everyone was.

They know there will be theories, art and fics on the Internet later but that’s okay.

They chose to share tiny snippets of their holiday because they wanted to. The holiday was something they did for themselves but they like sharing their lives, as long as it’s on their own terms.

Dan’s tempted to snap a photo of Phil likely drooling on his shoulder. It would make a nice addition to the creep shot war they’ve got going on. However, he wants to hold the intimacy of the private moment between just the two of them. Instead, he starts sorting through all his many photos, deleting all the photos that are almost identical and only keeping the best one. His camera would overrun by whole pages worth of a selfie session otherwise.

Phil comes to gradually, stiff in his neck and tired. He can feel the steady breathing of a boy he knows very well under his head. He slowly opens his eyes to see Dan sorting through his camera roll. Dan’s finger pauses over one of the more unsuccessful photos of Phil. Phil in the photo is pulling a ridiculous grimace sat on the bed in their hotel but Dan’s finger lingers over the delete button until he finally scrolls to the next one instead.

“I looked ridiculous in that photo, Dan,” Phil mumbles and pushes himself of Dan.

“Yeah, but it’s perfectly suited for our private folder for odd photos. Don’t worry; I wasn’t planning on exposing you to the Internet,” Dan assures him.

Dan turns to Phil and goes back to his moments tap and scroll through the feed slowly. Phil leans in close as they watch through all the memories they made in this holiday. Their viewers won’t even know about half of it.

A lot of it will just be moments for the two of them. They don’t need to share everything with the world. Soon enough they’ll be back in London and moving house. The viewers don’t know about that yet but they will soon.

Over the years, Dan and Phil have revealed more and more of themselves and that will continue. Gradually.

For now the viewers got to see the photogenic evidence of them being ultimate tourists on their private little holiday to Singapore.

**Author's Note:**

> This story has been in the works for way too long! I actually started it in like early May... But then I forgot about it because of university and writing other stuff. I’m not sure if I’m too happy with it but I really wanted to finish it, despite the trouble I had creating it. I hope you liked it? Do let me know? I’d really appreciate it. I just loved their little Singaporean adventures so much and all the gorgeous photos we were blessed with.


End file.
